Roma president in trouble after speaking of conspiracy against his club among referees
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Your support makes all the difference.Referees bore the brunt of criticism after the latest round of matches in Serie A. The Roma president, Franco Sensi, spoke of a "conspiracy" by Italian referees after the Giallorossi were held 1-1 by Piacenza, while the president of Como, Enrico Preziosi, went one step further and resigned in protest at the standard of refereeing after yesterday's 1-0 defeat by Bologna.
The only goal of that game came from a controversial penalty, awarded after Oscar Brevi was adjudged to have brought down Brescia's Brazilian striker Julio Cruz.
It left Preziosi fuming and he said he did not want to work in a sport he has claimed is biased against his club. "During the week I criticised the referees' association and today they reacted," he said. "It's a shame, but I am not surprised. The referee wanted to intimidate us, booking three of our players in the first 10 minutes. Now it's better I leave as chairman. This world, it's not mine any more."
He described the refereeing display as "shameful" and "completely in favour of Bologna". The result leaves Como without a win and second from bottom of Serie A.
Como had had the better of the game until the fateful decision came with 16 minutes left. Bologna's Giuseppe Signori made no mistake from the spot.
After the 1-1 draw with Piacenza, Sensi was asked about Roma's 23 bookings and three sendings-off. "They fix our games against Juventus, Milan and Inter," Sensi replied. "There is a conspiracy [against Roma]. I know this story very well. This time I will take action."
Only Bologna have more bookings than Roma with 26.
Roma did not appear to suffer from a refereeing decision, although Piacenza were awarded a penalty in the first half. Enzo Maresca was fouled in the box by Gianni Guigou but Dario Hubner missed the spot-kick.
Sensi could face punishment for his accusations. The Lega Calcio president, Adriano Galliani, said: "If Sensi has said all these things, he will answer to it. These are things to give to the solicitor. They are very dangerous comments, which I prefer not to answer."
Hector Cuper, the Internazionale coach, said he was "bitter" after his side's first Serie A defeat of the campaign. The Argentinian coach witnessed his team slump to a shock 2-1 loss to Udinese at San Siro. "We're very bitter," Cuper said. "Inter didn't deserve to lose. It's hard, we played well but we let in goals during our best moments."
Lazio ended their horrendous week with a forgettable 0-0 draw at home to Parma. Lazio are being sued by Manchester United and Valencia for unpaid transfer money on Jaap Stam and Gaizka Mendieta, respectively. In the midst of the worst financial crisis in their history, trading in their shares was suspended on Friday. Yesterday Sinisa Mihajlovic missed a penalty and Fabio Liverani was sent off.
Chievo won 4-1 at home against the bottom club Atalanta after conceding a goal just before half-time.
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